Webster Vienna Faculty Spotlight: Bradley Wiggins

This month’s faculty spotlight is Bradley E. Wiggins, associate professor and head of the Strategic Communication department at Webster Vienna Private University. Originally from the United States, Wiggins received his PhD in Communications Media and Instructional Technology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has been teaching at Webster Vienna Private University since July 2015.

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Q: What is your favorite social media channel and why?

Wiggins: Honestly, I don’t know if I can say I have a favorite social media channel, at least I don’t think of it in that way. Rather I would say I gravitate toward those social media channels that I feel I simply need to understand in order to integrate that knowledge into my teaching and research, if possible and appropriate, but definitely into my interactions with students so that I can remain current and fresh. Teaching in the field of communication, especially with regard to technological forms of communication, what we refer to as mediated forms of communication, means that I simply must remain current with new and evolving forms of messaging, communication, expression, etc.

With that said, I would name both Instagram and TikTok as the two social media platforms with which I am perhaps most engaged – not necessarily to mean that I produce content there, though this is also the case – but my function there is more as an observer. Instagram is highly visual and the stories function has a certain degree of enjoyment to it. With

TikTok, I remain fascinated by the various ways users deploy in-app tools to augment and enhance their messaging strategies. I’m also doing research at the moment on TikTok, and I will note this in more detail below.

I examine the ways in which individuals and groups deploy forms of media for identity negotiation and formation; ideology; politics; strategic messaging, and more.

Q: What are your research interests?

Wiggins: Before the pandemic and it was common to network at academic conferences, when I was asked what area I research I typically answered digital media. Of course, I know what that means but it is admittedly a bit broad and perhaps a little vague.

To be more precise, I examine the ways in which individuals and groups, organizations, etc. deploy different forms of media for purposes such as: identity negotiation and formation; ideological practice; political communication; strategic messaging, etc. This means, in practice, that I look at fake news and related discourse of conspiratorial thinking online (and its effects offline). Also, I investigate how politics and socio-cultural issues are communicated online through visual means, such as memes.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about the research you are currently conducting?

Wiggins: Just this month (September), I submitted a piece to a top-ranked journal. The title of the article is "Stop the Steal: 4chan’s /pol/ Board and the Mediatization of Conspiracy, Fear, and Loathing," which presents the results of a series of searches on 4chan’s discussion board /pol/, which stands for politically correct, ostensibly a space for the discussion of politics but is typically fecund ground for far right extremism.

One of the searches I conducted look at two terms steal and Trump. The word "steal" refers to the phrase "Stop the Steal" that emerged around the time of Trump’s electoral defeat in November 2020. During the timeframe Sept. 30, 2021 until May 31, 2021, this search resulted in over 1.7 million unique posts to the /pol/ board. User comments, images, and YouTube links shared to the board are all examined in order to make sense of the discourse before and after the attempted insurrection at the US Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.

In addition, I am working with a colleague at the WU (Wirtshafts Uni) on an article focusing mainly on the organizational structure of social movements. We are using Giddens’ notion of memory traces to examine two specific cases: the conspiracy theory-movement known as Q-Anon as compared and contrasted by the pre-Internet movement in former East Germany known as the Monday demonstrations or Montagsdemos.

Finally, I am conducting research on TikTok, specifically looking at one hashtag, namely #comingout. I presented the results of a pilot test at this year’s ECREA European Communication Conference. I plan on extending the work from that presentation in the form of an academic article, hopefully to be submitted before year’s end.

In this study, I examine the seemingly emerging and viral new genre of coming out videos as well as general supportive commentary directed at the larger LGBTQ+ community. Through a quantitative content analysis of a select sample of TikTok videos and/or user profiles, this study will demonstrate patterns of coming out on the platform as well as the uses and gratifications implied in that action. Further, this contribution aims to use qualitative discourse analysis to identify themes of solidarity, support, expressions of anxiety, worry, etc. in coming out videos collected for the study.

Stay curious. Embrace controversy. Understand that even with facts, you can face uphill battles everywhere.

As a university student, what was your favorite class?

Wiggins: At the undergrad level, I think a course in sociolinguistics was a favorite of mine. During my MA program, there was a course on postmodernism which I still benefit from today. During my PhD program, the course on simulations and games was a definite favorite.

Can you tell us your favorite teaching memory/moment while at Webster?

Wiggins: One that really sticks out is from spring 2017, specifically a special topics course I taught that attracted about 37 students. We increased the enrollment due to the massive demand for the course. The title was “Special Topics: Remix Culture, Internet Memes, and Viral Media,” and despite seeming like a class that might just discuss fake news and memes, students became deeply engaged with seminal works of research in order to make sense of current challenges and opportunities that play out daily on social media and other forms of digital media. That course, in part, motivated me to write my book, published in March 2019 and then re-issued in Sept 2020

What would you recommend new and current strategic communication students?

Wiggins: Stay curious. Embrace controversy. Understand that even with facts, you can face uphill battles everywhere. Strategy is meaningless without an understanding of tactics. All communication is purposeful. Even silence is a form of communicating.

Any hidden talents you would like to share with the WVPU community?

Wiggins: My Instagram profile reads “Deep-sea diver. Astronaut. Challenger of dogma. Chili-head. Intellectual evangelist. Digital culture researcher. Ok, at least 3 of those are true…”.

I also love to cook.

My profile is dr_wig on Instagram, @profwigg on Twitter, and @wigginswien on TikTok.